ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
VI. CLERICAL INTEGRITY
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
NOR shall the eternal roll of praise reject Those Unconforming; whom one rigorous day Drives from their Cures, a voluntary prey To poverty, and grief, and disrespect. And some to want–as if by tempests wrecked On a wild coast how destitute! did They Feel not that Conscience never can betray, That peace of mind is Virtue’s sure effect. Their altars they forego, their homes they quit, Fields which they love, and paths they daily trod, 10 And cast the future upon Providence; As men the dictate of whose inward sense Outweighs the world; whom self-deceiving wit Lures not from what they deem the cause of God.